Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[poppers77]

Hi all,

Must be the day for a identity crisis. I bought 3 sussex as growers they are now fabulous birds enjoying like FR in our garden.

How ever Ethel ( Top picture) looks very differnet to the others ( top girls)with a much whiter neck & this morning when i opended them up ( 8.45) i heard a very strange noise which then sounded like an immature crow! They have taken ages to establish whose the boss with lots oof tand off particularly between the 2 larger ones ( Ethel1 Barrietta2)

 

Please help as i'm very aware the breeeders parting sarcastic comment was " well i hope they are all girls " & it feels like we've been had! so I couldn't take them back.

 

Barietta ( 2nd/ middle picture)has a similar larger comb but her neck has more black feathers.

Violet (3rd) photo)the smallest has a rose coloured small comb and hackle feathers the same as Barietta.

 

Many thanks indeed.

 

 

 

[poppers77]

Etherl (crowed)

 

 

 

Barietta ( not crowin rounded hackle feathers)

 

 

And Violet ( smaller rose comb)

 

[Mollie333]

My hen 'John' used to crow.. But she lays me a lovely egg everymorning.

But i'm afraid your Ethel does infact look male.

[scarlettohara]

I'm new too so haven't a clue but what a horrible thing for the breeder to say

[Egluntyne]

Someone has a similar predicament **here**.

 

Ethel has a manly stance, but her/his face furniture is not significantly different to the others.

 

You say you bought them as grower. How long have you had them?

[poppers77]

We've had them for since 12th March, 2(Ethel & Barietta) were significantly bigger than Vi.

 

The worry is now includes Barietta, even though her hackle feathers are different. They both have nodules, but no spurs. Ethel is always keeping the other in line, but i thought that was because she was top girl.

 

The bigest worry to me is her neck it seems to be a different to the others wider like a male & her hackles appear more pointed.

 

Both Ethel & Barietta's combs have been red for 3-4 weeks. No eggs but as another said these can take a while to come into lay.

 

Trouble is losing 2 of the 3 will be such a disapointment.

 

Thanks all, the only thing i can do is wait & see if she does it again.

[Egluntyne]

Fingers crossed.

[Plum]

I hope not but I do think the second picture looks more male because of the tail swooping but I'm not experienced just guessing.

[Clur]

I have a Sussex who crows and is very vocal - I thought we'd got a 'he' but we're getting 4 eggs a day from 4 chooks, so I think she's just established as head-chicken and making it known.

 

Maybe Ethel's the same?

[jennydavies]

Hi - I'm Jenny, the other one with the chicken gender problem. My Blanche/Raymond (whatever She/He is) looks very much like your Barietta. Do the girlies have big face furniture ? Blanche tries to answer the local Coqs in the mornings and this morning she was a bit nearer achieving it, but nowhere near as loud. She is still sleeping on the perch in the WIR at night, while Nugget and Bluebelle sleep in the hen-house. Our chicken man was an 88 year old French geezer, so I suppose his eyesight may not be too good, maybe he thought Blanche was a girl. Your breeder sounded a bit vague didn't he - hoping they were all girls at least ours has age for an excuse.

[jennydavies]

I just took a couple more photos of Her/Him.

 

 

[poppers77]

Thanks Jenny & all,

 

We woke up to another attempt at crowing this am so the verdict appears that Ethel is a boy & we suspect Barietta (2) is as well. So i've gone back to the breeder this morning ( who was very helpful this time) & we are swapping Ethel tonite for 2 definite girls from the same hatching. We are keeping Barietta until / if she starts crowing as then the 3rd ( Violet - def a girl) won't get picked on & we'll remove Barietta if she turns out to be a boy. It's their combs that seem to be the problem. Ohterwise i'd just think Ethel is the only boy as her hackles are very pointed ( bit like Blanches in my very inexperienced opinion).

 

Very exhsuting this, i would love to keep them but we live in a town & it took a while for our neighbours to accept them as it is. At least they've ( & us) have had a lovely time whilst they been with us & as i write are relaxing in the shade & generally chuckling away very contendedly.

 

So the big changeover is tonite let's hope they get on,fingers crossed.

 

Thanks again for all your support - v much appreciated.

 

Laura

[Egluntyne]

Good luck.

[Plum]

Shame but good luck with the swap

[jennydavies]

Hi Poppers 77, how did you get on with your swop, have the newbies been accepted by your remaining Sussex ? I hope it's all going well We are pretty sure that Blanche is a Raymond.

[poppers77]

Hello everyone,

Well we've had a av ery eventful week. We returned Erol to our breeder who was very affable & picked up 2 definite girls who look completely different with hardly any combs at all ! When we raleased Erol we couldn't believe how silly we'd been! As there he was puffing his chest like a big lad trying to impress the girls ( the breeder has lots of other chickens). So sadly Barietta ( now Barri) is obviously also a lad so he will go back when he starts to crow too. He had one attempt the other morning at the leisurely hour of 9.30 & nothing since ( far too exhusting as he's allways been a laid back kind of chicken) & anyway he is far too busy chasing his ladies! Violet is clearly top chicken which was all over very quickly ( they were the same hatching so maybe they recognised each other again!!) So we now have Barri, Violet form the original 3 & our new 2 newbies Guinevere & Hyacynth ( can believe i'm struggling to spell their names!).

We kept them separate during the day for the first few days with the new girls in the house & old girls FR in the garden. They were having increasing time together FR in the evenings when we got hoem from work. All was going swimmmingly until the other evening there was a terrific foray & a local menace of a black cat cornered Gwinnie & chased her over the gate ( 6ft & her wings were clipped). She ran away. We searched & searched ( including every neighbour in the road) but she was no where to be found, so we gave up very unwillingly for the night There was another sighting by our neighbours 6am but by the time they got to her the cat appeared again & she vanished. So another worringly night past with no sight of her until the next morning when she obviously didn't want to live with us anymore ( sick of the neighbours the cat I expect) so tried to move in with the chicken family down the road! Thankfully they brought her home to great jubilation! What a week - we can't believe she is returned & we are so relieved. We are not letting her out of our sight & have her & Hyacynth on avery short reign!

 

So sorry to hear Blanche is a boy too - I must say i feel pretty gutted all our months of lovingly rearing our lads girls won't result in the long life we imagined for 2 out of 3 of them. They are ridiculously good looking lads though & compared to the new girls clearly demonstrate that as newbies we can't be so bad at this rearing lark!

 

Both will live with Alan till Autumn then he's going to show me how to dipatch & we'll have one each to eat. Not sure if i"ll be able to but as an owner & meat eater feel i must try.

 

Kindest regards to all - will post some piccies soon as I've taken them!

[Plum]

Wow. That was a week . Look forward to seeing your new girls and hearing how they develop. If only all introductions were as easy, apart from the cat. Must have been such a relief to have Gwinnie back . You better get the water pistol out for that moggie.

[poppers77]

All getting along now, no great north south divide at the bottom & the top of the garden!

 

 

 

 

Hyacynth ( the non - escapee)

 

Gwinnie ( escapee)

 

Both new girls

 

 

Sad farewell between best mates, Barri & Vi